7th. Did they bring liquor thus far? Ans. No. The liquor is kept at Rainy Lake, to induce the Indians to visit that place with their furs.
8th. Did the disposition made of the liquor, which the Secretary of War permitted the principal Factor of the Fond du Lac Department, to take in last year, (1831,) embrace the post of Winnipec? Ans. It did not. It was kept chiefly at Rainy Lake, and on the lines, to be used in the opposition trade.
Another trader, inquired of, in the country below, observed that five Chiefs had been invested with medals and flags, by the British trader at Lac le Pluie.
The party traversed Lake Winnipec on the morning of the 10th, and entered and passed up the sand-hill bordered valley of the Mississippi, to Cass Lake, the entrance to which they reached about one o’clock, being eleven days earlier in the season than this lake had been visited by the light canoes of Gov. Cass, twelve years previous. The outlet of this lake, was ascertained to be 172 feet in width, with an estimated depth of eight feet; being over half the width of the river, immediately below the inlet of the Sandy Lake branch.
At this point, being the ultima Thule of previous discovery, our narrative may assume a more personal character. The day was characterised by the striking warmth of the month of July in this latitude. The fore part of it had been spent in a diligent ascent of the Mississippi from Lake Winnipec; and the party reached the point of entrance, with a feeling of gratification, arising from the accomplishment of one of its objects. We halted a few moments, to allow the hindmost canoes to come up, so as to enter the Lake together. Oza Windib, or the Yellow Head, our Chippewa guide, had preceded the party a little, as he often did, to get the first glance of little bays and inlets, where water fowl are usually found. He had put his canoe ashore behind a small point, where he met a party of the Cass Lake band. Of this he kept us ignorant till turning the same point, that he might surprise us with an unexpected salute. The Indians then approached in their canoes in a body, with a welcome, which could hardly have been more cordial, had we been old friends. They represented their residence to be on a large island, bearing south-west from the entrance. And for this island we set forward, with every appliance. The Indians accompanied us, imparting a spirit of emulation to the men, by shouts and firing. In making this traverse, we left the mouth of Turtle river, (the spot of Gov. Cass’ landing in 1820,) on our right, and did not come near enough to the shore, distinctly to recognise its features. We were upwards of an hour in reaching the island, which is called Grand Island, or Colcaspi. On approaching it, a number of Indians were observed, running across an elevation, and pointing, with wild gestures, to a bay beyond. It was the best place of landing. They were assiduous in directing the men to the spot. They ranged themselves along the shore, fired a salute, and then came eagerly to the water’s edge, giving each one a hand, as he alighted from the canoe. He, who has formed his estimate of an Indian from the reading of books, in which he is depicted as cruel and morose, without any insight into his social character, need only to be ushered into a scene like this, to be convinced that he has contemplated an overshadowed picture. We found these Indians to be frank, cheerful, and confiding.
CASS LAKE
2978 miles above the Gulf of Mexico.
On ascending the elevation before referred to, it was found to be the site of an abandoned village, now covered partially with corn-fields, and overgrown, in other parts, with sumac and other shrubbery. The cutting down too much of the forest, and the consequent exposure to winds, had probably been their reason for removing the village to a more southerly and sheltered part of the island. An Indian town, all America over, is nothing but an assemblage of wigwams, built, exclusively to suit the particular convenience of the occupant, without right angled streets, for which (as they have no carts or waggons) they have no occasion, and they get thereby the additional advantage of having no clouds of dust blown up from the denuded surface. There is (as we should say) a public square, or rather, an open grassy spot, where councils and dances are held, and the ceremonies of the wabeno and medicine society performed. Hillocks and elevated grounds are selected for erecting their lodges on; and clumps of small trees and shrubs are sought. Large trees are avoided, for the simple reason, that they often loose a limb during windy weather, and are liable to be blown down by tempests. But the whole circular opening, constituting a town plat, is surrounded with forest, to shelter them, in summer and winter. Gardens are variously located, and generally without fences, as there are no domesticated cattle. Such, at least, was the town of Oza Windib, situated nearly a mile from the spot of our landing, to which he was welcomed, on his return, by groups of men, women, and children. The total population, as counted during our stay, was 157, and it does not, probably, at any time, exceed 200 or 250. They rely, in the main, on hunting for a subsistence, deriving considerable aid, as the season shifts, from fishing, the gathering of wild rice, and the products of small fields of corn and potatoes, cultivated by the women. We were assured that the corn crop was always relied on, and that seed corn is preserved from year to year, and has not been known to fail. About sixty miles northwest, at Red Lake, corn is stated by the traders, to be a profitable crop, and it is among the singularities of the fur trade, that this article has, within a few of the last years, been furnished in considerable quantity, from that lake, to the posts on the Upper Mississippi, and even as far east as Fond du Lac.
The hunting grounds of Yellow Head’s band, embrace the extreme sources of the Mississippi, and his village is the last fixed location in the ascent. Part of them go to Lac Travers, and encamp there, for the purpose of making the winter hunt. And from this point, they ascend southerly, which carries them still further into the red deer and stag and hind country of (the absolute head of the Mississippi,) Itasca Lake. The furs and skins collected, are exchanged for goods with traders, who visit them annually in the fall, and remain during the winter. These goods are brought in canoes from Michilimackinac, an estimated distance, as travelled, of 1120 miles. Of this distance there are only 18¾ miles land carriage, separated into five portages, at distant points.
We may observe in this singular facility of internal water communication, one of the primary reasons of the heads of the Mississippi, being supplied with Indian goods at first from Montreal, and afterwards from New-York. Not only were these facilities early found to exist, but it was the track of interior discovery, while the Mississippi itself opposed an obstacle to the trade, by its difficult navigation, and the unhealthiness of the climate of its lower latitudes. Political considerations, also, entered into the earlier arrangements. Indeed, whoever is curious to examine into this matter, will find the history of the fur trade in north-western America, to be intimately blended with the civil history of the country, for about two hundred and fifty years after its discovery. Dating this discovery from the arrival of Jaques Cartier in the gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1534, (the first well settled era,) the traffic then commenced with the natives, and, soon assuming an engrossing character, may be traced through various modifications, up to the surrender of the lake posts to the American government in 1796. This momentous interval of two hundred and sixty-two years, is fraught with incidents of a deeply interesting character, which it will be sufficient here, to allude to. Through every change of things the fur trade continued to be, not only cherished, but formed one of the cardinal interests in the policy of the government which France and Great Britain successively exercised over this portion of North America. Under the French government the system was intimately connected with military and with missionary efforts, in a manner which was peculiar to that government. Licences to trade were granted by the governor general to superannuated officers, and other servants of the crown, by whom they were sold out to enterprising individuals. These persons went inland to exchange their goods for furs, and first drew upon themselves the epithet of Couriers du Bois. Great irregularities, however, existed. Civil and ecclesiastic power were alternately exerted to restrain them. And an order to prohibit the traffic in the article of brandy was issued by one of the French governors.
Under English rule, local agents were authorised, in the name of the king, to oversee Indian affairs, grant licences, and exercise a general supervision over the trade. Serious difficulties arose in acquiring the confidence of the northern Indians after